mrbadexample

No Freeman number but I think 11+J?

Marvellous. The seller's pictures were somewhat out of focus so the condition's better than I hoped for. If that was a penny of similar rarity (e.g. F14) it'd be popular.

Ok, time to see if the homework is paying off. I'd very much like this to be F328 please:

I have great difficulty distinguishing between obverses 4, 6 & 7, so that's reassuring, thanks.

F282? Not 100% on the obverse.

I've got a 1928 but lower grade than the posted coin:

1. Agreed, a year in circulation isn't long, but it's different to a year in the pocket where it's not being slid across counters and in and out of cash registers etc, so I think the impact is much less. 2. I actively handled it whenever I could - it was polished and a year barely took the shine off. I still think to get something down to VF would involve decades and habitual weekly polishing.

But your 1927 is a proof. No alarm bells ringing here (which doesn't mean much).

Cheers. I saw that Obverse 12 is only paired with Reverse L so I was actually checking the reverse to make sure I was getting the right obverse for my picture. It wasn't L as far as I could see, so something had to be wrong...

Thanks Rob.

Looking for a decent picture of Freeman ½d obverse 12, I searched for F322 as the only one to have this obverse. Can someone confirm my suspicion that this is actually F321? Or at least, not the F322 it purports to be? Cheers, Jon

Absolutely, so they were spent but not circulated. You can't find one with any proper wear. The level of wear seen on the wreath crowns surely means they circulated? I don't really buy this "pocket piece" thing other than accounting for very limited wear. I've carried a cleaned Jersey 1858 1/13d (i.e. a nice soft copper) about in my pocket for over a year in an attempt to wear the shine off, rattling about with keys and other coins etc, and whilst it did take the shine off a bit, there was no discernible wear. To wear one below EF would take decades, I think.

I remember lots of my mates spending the 1977 25p on sweets. They were certainly spent, but I never saw one come back in change.

I think the photo could be better - to me the light reflection made it look polished at first. Can you take some differently lit shots?

Another bit from Sweeney, after he records the purchases of the presses, says: "Certain additional equipment (engine, shafting and sundry machinery) was thereafter procured from Joseph Taylor, whose firm is known today as Taylor and Challen." Perhaps he did manage to acquire them from Taylor at some point, if not from the sale.

A possibility?

1. Yes, a penny. 2. As far as I understand it, Annand Smith & Co first issued their copper tokens on October 20th 1849. The original order was from the SOHO mint (SOHO had been removed - picture). Subsequent orders were from Heatons and made from modified dies obtained from the auction of SOHO's bits and pieces. Sweeney notes: "These tokens involved a reverse die that had been used by Boulton & Watt for Imperial pence back in 1806-7, a die that originally had the SOHO mark of the Boulton mint at the base of the Britannia design below the shield. It was a simple change for Heatons to make (involving an interesting coincidence of letters) to eradicate the SOHO mark and replace it with their own - an H&S for Heaton & Son." And yes - plain edge.

H&S (Heaton & Son) replaces SOHO:

This is from Andrews' Australasian Tokens & Coins, but no indication as to rarity that I can see. I've got a couple of the Annand Smith & Co. tokens as they were one of Heaton's first issues.

What would you like it to be Zo? I think it's a Freeman 22, 4+D but wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong.